The world's oldest digital computers

November 26, 2012 |By AUBREY COHEN

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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The Hollerith tabulator and sorter box, invented by Herman Hollerith and used in the 1890 United States census, is shown in this photo circa 1960. This precursor to modern digital computers 'read' cards by passing them through electrical contacts. Closed circuits, which indicated hole positions, could then be selected and counted. Hollerith's Tabulating Machine Company, founded in 1896, was a predecessor to International Business Machines (IBM).

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

7of34

The Hollerith tabulator and sorter box, invented by Herman Hollerith and used in the 1890 United States census, is shown in this photo circa 1960. This precursor to modern digital computers 'read' cards by passing them through electrical contacts. Closed circuits, which indicated hole positions, could then be selected and counted. Hollerith's Tabulating Machine Company, founded in 1896, was a predecessor to International Business Machines (IBM).